Photographic method and apparatus



Nov. 1, 1966 L. H. NARODNY PHOTOGRAPHIC METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Jan. 29, 1964 zmima zoCEE mm mmw ZNVENTOR, LEO H. IVARODNY ATTORNEYG United States Patent 3,282,695 PHoroGRAPHro METHOD AND APPARATUS Leo H. Narodny, Westport, Conn., assignor t0 the United Filed Jan. 29, 1964, Ser. No. 341,153 2 Claims. (Cl. 9661) This inventioin relates to a system for rapidly processing exposed photographic film wherein the processing chemicals are applied to the emulsion from a carrier member to which the chemicals are adherent in a sheetlike layer.

The layer of chemicals have a jelly like consistency which is sufficiently absorptive to carry the chemicals to the exposed emulsion. Moreover the special combination of chemicals in the layer has a high degree of adhesion to the base port-ion of the carrier member and has relatively little adhesion to the film emulsion.

In the practice of the invention a carrier film such as a strip of saran plastic is fed along a path extending thru various processing stations. The first two stations apply a coating of specially compounded film developing and fixing solutions which are carried to and thru the bite of a pair of rolls together with an exposed strip of photographic film having its emulsion facing the developing compound on the carrier film. The contact between the two films is maintained by additional rolls or in any suitable manner.

The time of development is then determined by the rate of travel of the film and the distance to the final station where the two films are separated at which time the carrier and the gel type processing layer are stripped from the processed film which is automatically freed of processing residues by the carrier member leaving the processed film ready for use.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a rapid photographic processing system wherein the complete processing cycle is accomplished substantially as a semi-dry operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a photo processing apparatus which provides complete rapid processing facility within a greatly reduced space.

A further object of the invention is to provide a photographic processing system wherein the processing operation is continuous and the application of the processing materials to the sensitive emulsion is confined to a thin layer of gel pressed into contact therewith the layer being so constituted that it will strip cleanly from the emulsion after the completion of the processing.

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

To provide a better understanding of the invention it will be described in connection with specific embodiments thereof and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partially diagrammatic illustration of an apparatus for practicing the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the workpieces involved in the invention at the time they are temporarily pressed together to perform a processing operation.

A suitable apparatus for practicing the invention is shown in the drawings wherein a roll of carrier film is supported on a reel 11, and a roll of exposed photographic film or paper 12 is supported upon a reel 13. The carrier film may be of any suitable chemically resistant material such as plastic. Saran in thin sheet form has been found to be suitable and may be quite thin of the order of .001 to .002 inch in thickness. The exposed film may be of any type of photosensitive material but will herein be assumed to be materials having silver halide emulsion surfaces.

The exposed film is shielded from light in any suitable manner such as by providing a protective casing not shown enclosing the apparatus. The two films are fed thru the apparatus in any desired manner. This may be done manually or by a suitable power driving device 14 having two pairs of feed rolls 15 and 16 which are driven at the same surface speed and between which the carrier and the photosensitive film respectively pass. The drive mechanism 14 is adjustable to vary the speed of travel of the film strips and thus establish the required developing time.

If the strips are provided with perforated edges as in 35 mm. film positive drive for strips could be provided by using a sprocket drive in place of the rolls.

The processing ingredients are applied to the carrier strip 10 at a position adjacent to the supply roll. This operation may be performed in any satisfactory manner. As shown in the drawing the operation is performed by an applicator device 17 having a slot thru which the film travels and a chamber 18 which is supplied with a solution 19 by a pipe or tube 20 connected to a tank of solution not shown. The surface of the carrier should be capable of receiving a uniform layer of the solution.

Closely adjacent the applicator 17 a second applicator 21 is positioned having a slot for the film and a chamber 22 supplied with fixing solution 23. Upon emerging from the applicator 21 the carirer has a coating of a mixture of developer and fixing solutions. As will appear hereinafter from a detailed description of the nature of the solutions, when they are combined a gel like coating 24 is formed which adheres to the carrier and has the ability to transfer the solutions to the emulsion of the exposed film sheet.

The exposed film 12 is fed from its reel together with the coated carrier film between the bite of two pairs of pressure rolls 25 and 26 which causes the strips to adhere and diifuse the processing solutions to the sensitive film causing the film to become processed while it travels to a separator knife edge 27. At this point the carrier film 10 is pulled upward at a relatively sharp angle from the general plane of the adhering films by the feed rolls 16.

It is desirable that a certain amount of tension be maintained in the film strips to insure that the carrier strip will be pulled sharply from the film strip at the knife edge. To maintain such tension adjustable friction let off devices 28 are secured to shafts 11 and 13 as shown in FIG. 1 wherein a friction wheel 29 is secured to the shaft and is embraced by a brake member 30 having adjusting means 31 by means of which a desired tension in the film strips is established.

The separated strips are wound upon separate reels 32 and 33. The carrier film 10 is Wound upon the reel 32 and the processed photosensitive film upon the reel 33. The reels 32 and 33 are driven by friction driven units 34 adjusted to wind the film thereon without slack or excessive tension.

The gel-like coating has the selective facility of firmly adhering to the carrier strip and of freely stripping from the photosensitive emulsion on the strip 12. Thus the finished film is immediately ready for use since the gel 24 is substantially completely removed therefrom taking with it the surplus by-products of processing.

An important feature of the invention resides in the manner in which the processing solutions are applied to the strip 10. By applying the developing and fixing ingredients separately an even coating of gel is automatically formed upon the strip 10. Moreover this method provides a constant supply of freshly mixed monobath type processing solution which is immediately applied to 3 the film 12. In addition this method of applying the gel coating eliminates the difficulties attached to mixing a batch of the processing materials and attempting to apply an even layer upon the carrier after the gel has formed.

To produce the layer of gel in the manner above described the ingredients used are a combination of conventional developing agents with certain additives which impart the required characteristics thereto. By adding to the developer solution a polyacrylamide such as the products known as PAM 250 produced by the American Cyanamid Company, and applying over a layer of this solution a fixing solution containing an aldehyde at a specified pH the combined solutions form a gel which has a stronger adhesion for the carrier film than for the photosensitive film.

In a modification of the invention the carrier film is first coated with an alkaline developer solution as shown in Example III of the following examples of suitable solutions for practicing the invention. This may be done at applicator 17. An acid fixer solution as shown in Example IV is applied by applicator 21 over the coating of the developer. It will be noted this fixer contains glyoxal which reacts with the polyacrylamide of the developer to form a gel-like coating. The gel coating and the sensitive surface of the photosensitive sheet are pressed together as described above as they pass thru the rolls 25 and 26. After the processing period the strips are separated as before at the knife edge 27 leaving the processed sensitive film ready for use.

The following examples illustrate developer and fixer solutions for use in practicing the invention.

The following solution is an acid developer solution for use with an alkaline fixer solution as in Example II.

Example I Grams Sodium bisulfite 25 Sodium sulfite 20 Polyacrylamide 15 Amidol (diaminophenol) 5 Add water to 1000 cc.

The following solution is an alkaline fixer solution for use with an acid developer solution as in Example 1.

Example 11 Sodium sulfite gms 22.5 Acetic acid glacial ml 53 Ammonium thiocyanate gms 600 Glyoxal 50% sol 1 ml 33 Polyacrylamide gms 43 In methylalcohol ml 86 Water to pH 7 or higher ml 1000 1 (ethanedial O=CO=G) The following is an alkaline developer solution for use with an acid fixer solution such as in Example IV.

Example 111 Sodium sulfite gms 80.0 Hydroquinone gms 60.0 Phenidone (l-phenyl-3 pyrozolidone) gms 8.0

Sodium hydrozide gms 40.0

4 Tri-sodium phosphate gms 4.0 Di-sodium phosphate grns 0.8 Antifog No. 2-6-nitro-benzimidazole grns 1.0 Polyacrylamide gms 35.0 Formal-in 40% sol ml Water to pH 11.8 ml 1000 The following is an acid fixer solution for use with the alkaline developer solution of Example III.

Example IV Sodium sulfite gms 22.5 Acetic acid glacial ml 53 Ammonium thiocyanate gms 600 Glyoxal 30% sol 1 gms 33 Polyacrylamide gms 45 In methylalcohol ml 86 Water to pH 4.0 ml 1000 What is claimed is:

1. A method for processing photosensitive material, comprising preparing an alkaline photo developing solution containing 35 grams of olyacrylamide, per liter of developing solution preparing an acid photographic fixing solution containing 33 milliliters of glyoxal per liter of fixing solution to a pH of 4.0 separately applying the developer and fixer to the surface of a carrier member permitting the solution to mix while in their liquid phase until a gel-like coating is formed, pressing the coating into contact with the exposed sensitive emulsion of a photosensitive sheet and after processing is complete stripping said carrier from the photosensitive sheet whereby the gel-like coating is completely removed from the sensitive sheet leaving the processed sensitive sheet ready to use.

2. A method for processing photosensitive material comprising preparing an acid photographic developing solution containing 15 grams of polyacrylamide, per liter of developing solution preparing an alkaline fixing solution containing 33 milliliters of glyoxal per liter of fixing solution to a pH of at least 7, separately applying the said solutions to the surface of a carrier sheet while in their liquid phase, permitting the solutions to mix and form a gel-like coating, pressing the gel-like coating into contact with the sensitive surface of an exposed photosensitive sheet, permitting processing to take place and then stripping the carrier sheet and its gel-like coating from the photosensitive sheet at a sharp angle to the photosensitive sheet.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,948,209 8/ 1960 Neidle et al. 9661 3,167,429 1/1965 Levy 9661 FOREIGN PATENTS 561,545 5/1960 Belgium. 884,390 12/1961 Great Britain.

NORMAN G. TORCHIN, Primary Examiner.

C. E. DAVIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A METHOD FOR PROCESSING PHOTOSENSITIVE MATERIAL, COMPRISING PREPARING AN ALKALINE PHOTO DEVELOPING SOLUTION CONTAINING 35 GRAMS OF POLYACRYLAMIDE, PER LITER OF DEVELOPING SOLUTION PREPARING AN ACID PHOTOGRAPHIC FIXING SOLUTION CONTAINING 33 MILLILITERS OF GLYOXAL PER LITER OF FIXING SOLUTION TO A PH TO 4.0 SEPARATELY APPLYING THE DEVELOPER AND FIXER TO THE SURFACE OF A CARRIER MEMBER PERMITTING THE SOLUTION TO MIX WHILE IN THEIR LIQUID PHASE UNTIL A GEL-LIKE COATING IS FORMED, PRESSING THE COATING INTO CONTACT WITH THE EXPOSED SENSITIVE EMULSION OF A PHOTOSENSITIVE SHEET AND AFTER PROCESSING IS COMPLETE STRIPPING SAID CARRIER FROM THE PHOTOSENSITIVE SHEET WHEREBY THE GEL-LIKE COATING IS COMPLETELY REMOVED FROM THE SENSITIVE SHEET LEAVING THE PROCESSED SENSITIVE SHEET READY TO USE.
 2. A METHOD FOR PROCESSING PHOTOSENSITIVE MATERIAL COMPRISING PREPARING AN ACID PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPING SOLUTION CONTAINING 15 GRAMS OF POLYACRYLAMIDE, PER LITER OF DEVELOPING SOLUTION PREPARING AN ALKALINE FIXING SOLUTION CONTAINING 33 MILLILITERS OF GLYOXAL PER LITER OF FIXING SOLUTION TO A PH OF AT LEAST 7, SEPARATELY APPLYING THE SAID SOLUTIONS TO THE SURFACE OF A CARRIER SHEET WHILE IN THEIR LIQUID PHASE, PERMITTING THE SOLUTIONS TO MIX AND FORM A GEL-LIKE COATING, PRESSING THE GEL-LIKE COATING INTO CONTACT WITH THE SENSITIVE SURFACE OF AN EXPOSED PHOTOSENSITIVE SHEET, PERMITTING PROCESSING TO TAKE PLACE AND THEN STRIPPING THE CARRIER SHEET AND ITS GEL-LIKE COATING FROM THE PHOTOSENSITIVE SHEET AT A SHARP ANGLE TO THE PHOTOSENSITIVE SHEET. 